Similarities of the Erythrocytes in Juvenile Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia to Fetal Erythrocytes

• Published in: Blood Vol. 39; no. 6; pp. 778 - 784
• Main Authors: Maurer, Helen S., Vida, Loyda N., Honig, George R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.1972
• Subjects: Alanine - analysis; Blood Protein Electrophoresis; Bone Marrow Examination; Child, Preschool; Chromatography; Dextrans; Erythrocytes - analysis; Erythropoiesis; Fetal Hemoglobin - analysis; Glucocorticoids - therapeutic use; Glycine - analysis; Humans; Karyotyping; Leukemia, Myeloid - blood; Leukemia, Myeloid - drug therapy; Male; Oxygen - blood
• ISSN: 0006-4971; 1528-0020
• DOI: 10.1182/blood.V39.6.778.778

A 4-yr-old boy was studied who showed typical findings of juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia, including massive hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, low leukocyte alkaline phosphatase, and absence of a Philadelphia chromosome. The erythrocytes of the patient exhibited many characteristic features of erythrocytes of newborn infants: the fetal hemoglobin concentration was greatly elevated (72%); the oxygen dissociation curve of the whole blood was displaced to the left of the curve from normal adult blood; the hemoglobin A2 level and the erythrocyte I antigen titer were reduced; and a structural analysis of the γ-chain of the fetal hemoglobin showed the glycine to alanine ratio in γ-136 to be typical of the neonatal pattern. These findings support the suggestion that juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia is accompanied by reversion to a fetal pattern of erythropoiesis.